[SatyRoy]

Voted for "Synthetic Leather upholstery". Major reason for me would be maintenance and peace of mind. I find fabric seats great too however it becomes almost impossible to keep them clean with toddlers and joint family.

[abhi_tjet]

Voted for leather(synthetic). Leather seats ups the premium quotient definitely. Fabric ones absorb dust over time and need professional help mostly to rejuvenate. Leather can be maintained quite easily!

[Cessna182]

Leather seats are not comfortable in the summer. Even with the AC on the back sweats a lot. I find fabric better for this reason alone.

Many cheap seat covers are available which can be washed in a washing machine. I think this is a good option for cars without seat airbags.

[MOUNTAINMAN]

Fabric all the way!

Although leather and synthetic looks much better, but high sensitivity to extreme temperatures and slippery feel to sit on makes fabric a more comfortable choice.

I like to keep the factory fabric seat cover as-is. No additional covers.

Originally Posted by Aditya

[*]Washable - Fabric upholstery can be washed very easily and without professional help. This makes it very practical to live with.[/list]

I think you mean removable fabric seat cover, as I don't think the factory fitted fabric seat covers are washable. The service center does dry cleaning but I don't see much difference between before and after.

[sramanat]

Voted for leather. Other than the cost and vegan part, I am not sure if I agree with any of the negatives listed in the original post. Even the cost factor is inflated because manufacturers put them in higher variants which come with other bells and whistles. I am not sure if anyone is offering leather seats as an accessory these days. But I recall Maruti offering it on the old baleno sedan. Possibly on Kizashi and Sx4 as well.
Regarding the durability, genuine leather ages like wine. I had seats fitted by Stanley seating (before they went into furniture business) and they looked great 15 years later when the rest of the car didn't. :-). They even threw in a shampoo and polish with the seat, which I used exactly once. I had a dark grey seat inside a black car and it did heat up on hot summer days, but never to an unbearable level. I've carried bicycles inside the car multiple times and the protruding sharp metal edges never damaged the seats.
My inlaw's ecosport OTOH has a factory fitted faux leather seat and it tore just like that when I tried to put a bicycle in the car.

[varoon9999]

I voted for Fabric over the synthetic leather upholstery, not that lucky yet to own a car with pure leather upholstery.

My Punto came with fabric seats and still it looks immaculate, doing duty even after completing 11 years and clocking 1,51,000 kms, barely any signs of ageing on them. Specially in Delhi summers it absorbs sweat like a charm, in winters I found seats are more cozier than on my Skoda's Synthetic wrapped seats. In last 11 years of ownership, I think 4-5 times these seats have been dry-cleaned, that's all !!

On the other hand my Laura has Synthetic Leather seats and they are pain in either of the season, upholstery is 5 years old and the ageing on seats are quite evident.

I would prefer parking my buck on fabric fitted seats any given day.

[DevOnWheels]

Although genuine leather looks and feels premium, good quality fabric seats are more comfortable in our hot and humid conditions. But these do gets spoiled easily as compared to leather or leatherette.

If given the choice though, I will go for leather or leatherette in a Sedan or SUV and fabric in a hatchback or a family beater.

DevOnWheels

[fiestarry]

Good fabric seats beat leather anyday. I like the fabric that Honda uses on its car seats. Very soft and premium looking !
Besides, the thought of being in contact with the skin of slaughtered innocent animals turns my stomach ! You guessed it... I am vegan !

[Touringlawyer]

Originally Posted by poloman

Only fabric seats for me purely due to ethical reasons. This can even affect my purchase decision. If a car which I like, comes only in leather seats, I will not buy it.

I even use only fabric wallet for that matter.

Absolutely. Same for me.

In fact, I have postponed my decision to buy a large 7 seater SUV purely for this reason. Have written to the India and Global CEOs of Ford, Toyota and MG citing this reason, and requesting them to introduce their top end models also with the option of synthetic / non-animal leather / premium upholstery like Benecke-Kaliko, for customers in India, like all top brands have done for their customers in the West. If you google about it, almost all big brands have introduced non-animal leather options in their Cars in Europe and US. In fact, Tesla's best selling "Model 3" is now entirely Vegan (Animal Leather free), including the steering wheel.

While I wasn't expecting the CEOs to respond, I was actually surprised to receive an email from Rajiv Gauba, CEO, MG Motors India, and he copied every relevant senior executive from MG on the email also. He said he can't give a deadline but will definitely start working towards it.

Cheers!

[v1p3r]

Originally Posted by lazy

Simply cannot bear the thought of being surrounded by dead animal skin in a closed environs of a car. Have read online that a mid-size car upholstery can require upto 4-6 calves/cows worth of skin. Luxury leather is sourced from lamb/sheep etc, that may require a much higher count.

Most leather (in the world) comes from CN/IN/BR. The leather is a useful end-of-life product, while the main moneyspinner is milk/meat/labour. Rarely are cows, goats, and sheep bred for leather.

Originally Posted by pseudo_coder

People like me who shun leather for ethical reasons, and those who shun it for religious reasons shouldn't be forced to get either leather seats or only low end cars.

You are right. Your options should include Alcantara / microsuede, and the rest of the faux-leather and fabric options available.

For anyone who thinks faux leather and fabric are eco-friendly and that leather is not, do remember that all faux fabrics are essentially plastic, which comes from fossil fuels and has almost zero biodegradability. Your Artico seats will be rotting in a landfill long after the rest of the car's metal has been recycled. Also, fabric like cotton and silk actually has a huge carbon footprint.

Personally, I would just Alcantara everything sporty, and Nappa it otherwise.

[MADMAX111]

Voted for Fabric seats. My Old Baleno (2.25 lac kms done) has high quality velour fabric. Most comfortable seats, don’t smell and still look good. Looks apart, I don’t think leather seats are suited for Indian summer.

[adisan]

Fabric. Better suited for our weather. Also, wouldn't want an animal to be slaughtered, even if leather is only a secondary product.

[purangdevvrat]

Anyone knows any place from where to get my seat upholstery changed my polo fabric seats were ruined due to excess moisture and mould buildup I don't want seat covers. Wanting to change the fabric of the seats get something new. I'm based in Pune.

[sagarpadaki]

Originally Posted by purangdevvrat

Anyone knows any place from where to get my seat upholstery changed my polo fabric seats were ruined due to excess moisture and mould buildup I don't want seat covers. Wanting to change the fabric of the seats get something new. I'm based in Pune.

You can order a new set of seat covers from service center of you want to keep the oem look and feel

[purangdevvrat]

Was considering something else like the gti seat upholstery. Or maybe something else not sure but any place that can give me ideas